New Obamacare Ads Feature Pets to Attract Young Women

A multimillion-dollar Obamacare advertising blitz will feature cats, dogs, and other pets to attract young women to enroll in the new healthcare program.

Enroll America, the non-profit advocacy group, is launching the public service ad campaign Tuesday. Enroll America President Anne Filipic said the ads will "help break through the clutter," USA Today reports.

"There have been challenges in getting messages out," Filipic said. "People don't have the facts they need to know."

The goal is to raise awareness of the March 31 enrollment deadline, given that 81 percent of the public does not know about it, according to the group.

Filipic believes the pet theme will resonate with young women, given statistics and surveys showing that more than 60 percent of homes have a pet and more than half of female pet owners say they would risk their lives for their pets, according to USA Today.

The Obama administration set a target of enrolling 7 million people in the new healthcare program by the end of 2014, with the expectation that 40 percent of enrollees would be young people, ages 18-35, to help offset the costs of care for less healthy and older people.

To date, an estimated one quarter of the 3 million newly enrolled are in that age range, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, but some states say enrollment for that demographic is even lower.

According to USA Today, the private, non-profit Ad Council hopes to raise $30 million worth of donated time and space from its contributors and volunteers to help with the Obamacare blitz, while Enroll America anticipates spending about $1.5 million this year to help raise awareness about the healthcare law.